Aquarium Expansion Plans Proceed

By Kurt Helin
Editor

Long discussed expansion plans for the Aquarium of the Pacific are moving faster: money has been raised and the environmental report has been completed and is awaiting approval.

The next formal test is a trip to the Planning Commission in October to review the “negative declaration” environmental report and to approve the first phase plans.

That first phase is a 960-square-foot classroom next to a new watershed exhibit — both things that will help tell the story of our ocean, said Barbara Long, the aquarium’s vice president of government relations and special projects.

“We need more classroom space,” she said. “We have two classrooms and the Honda Theater and we’ve had to turn away classroom work for some school groups because we don’t have the space.”

Last year 193,000 school children came in groups to the aquarium. With the added classroom space and the watershed exhibit, one of the stories those students will hear is how they influence the ocean, she added.

“We’re going to tell the story of the watershed and how what they do at home impacts the ocean, where all the beautiful animals they just saw live,” Long said.

The interactive watershed exhibit — complete with a huge model of the Southern California watershed — will show students how, for example, fertilizer that is washed off a lawn 20 miles inland can reach the ocean.

But before that lesson can be taught, the project has to be built, and that will require some local governmental approvals and some more money.

When the Planning Commission takes up the issue, it will look at a Mitigated Negative Declaration for the project — which means that, with implementing a few steps, the project will not have significant impact on the environment. That is in part because the classroom building will be meet LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) platinum standards.

The new 3,100-square-foot overall project will be located near the Lorikeet exhibit near the back of the aquarium.

Building such a new project is not cheap, but the aquarium has raised almost enough money from companies, grants and private donations, Long said.

“We raised $2.1 million, which was supposed to be enough, but escalating construction costs mean we have to raise a couple hundred thousand more,” she said.

The other three phases of the expansion would ultimately bring 5,300 square feet of indoor facilities and 13,800 square feet of outdoor facilities.

The aquarium needs to grow, Long said.

“We’ve had four years of increasing attendance and we want to be able to grow because we don’t want our guests to feel crowded,” Long said.

The Negative Declaration is now available for download on the city’s Web site, www.longbeach.gov. Copies also are available for review at the Long Beach Main Library, 101 Pacific Ave. and City Hall, 333 W. Ocean Blvd., fifth floor.

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